Internet Law -
Spring, 2009 - Section 1
Professor Leora Harpaz
Office - Room 317; Telephone - 782-1437
E-mail - lharpaz@law.wnec.edu
Website: www.wneclaw.com
Office Hours - Monday 11:30-12:30;
Thursday 1-2:30 and by appointment
SYLLABUS
Required Casebook:
Bellia, Berman & Post, Cyberlaw: Problems of Policy and
Jurisprudence in the Information Age (Third Edition) (Thomson/West,
2006).
Course Description:
This course will examine how the law is responding to the various
challenges posed by the Internet. It will look at the application
of various sources of law including the United States Constitution,
state and federal statutes and regulations and common law principles to
the Internet as well as a variety of proposals for new or revised laws
to regulate this means of both communication and commerce. Topics
to be discussed include efforts to censor the Internet, the legal
status of domain names, on-line defamation, jurisdiction over
cyberspace and Internet crimes. The course does not require any
technical expertise, but instead will focus on the way in which the
legal system responds to the creation of new technology either by
reasoning by analogy and applying existing legal principles or by
creating new legal categories and regulatory techniques.
Grading: There will be
a 3-hour open book examination with no limitations on the printed or
written material that can be brought to the exam.
ASSIGNMENTS
NOTE:
THIS IS A PARTIAL LIST OF ASSIGNMENTS. IT WILL BE UPDATED
PERIODICALLY TO ADD MORE ASSIGNMENTS TO THE LIST AS THE SEMESTER
PROGRESSES.
1. Introduction and
Reasoning by Analogy
Casebook pages 12-20 (background reading)
Cases for class discussion: Adams v. New
Jersey Steamboat Co., McBoyle (Court of Appeals), and McBoyle (Supreme
Court)
2. Internet Basics and
Problems of Metaphor and Analogy:
Introductory Case Studies
Casebook pages 21-44 (top) (Trespass to Chattels in Cyberspace: e eBay
v. Bidder's Edge - page 23, Intel Corp. v. Hamidi - page 30)
3. Noah v. AOL
Casebook Pages 57-62 (Internet Access and Content Filtering in Public
Libraries: Mainstream Loudoun - page 57, United States v. American
Library Association - note case - page 62)
4. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: The Theoretical Debate
Casebook pages 63-74 (background reading)
Cases for class discussion: Hageseth v. The
Superior Court of San Mateo County and Voyeur
Dorm, L.C. v. City of Tampa
5. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: Jurisdiction to
Prescribe - Extraterritorial Regulation of Speech
Casebook pages 83-98
French Yahoo! Decision of November,
2000
See http://home.att.net/~slomansonb/YahooJmt.html
for complete history
of case and pictures of some of the Nazi memorabilia at issue.
6. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: Jurisdiction to
Prescribe - The Dormant Commerce Clause
Casebook pages 98-112
7. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: Jurisdiction to
Adjudicate
Casebook pages 112-137
Sayeedi v. Walser
8. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: Judgment Recognition
and the Power of Persuasion
Casebook pages 137-148
9. Problems of
Geography and Sovereignty: A Case Study in the Internationalization of
Legal Regimes - Governing the Domain Name System
Casebook Pages 166-193
10. The Effect of
Legal Rules on Technological Innovation: Home Video Recording Devices
and Domain Names and Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Casebook Pages 238-265
11. The Effect of
Legal Rules on Technological Innovation: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Casebook Pages 265-282
A Case Study on the
Interaction of Law and Technology: Domain Names and the Market for
Search Tools
Casebook Pages 284-293
12. The Role of
Private Regulatory Entities in Cyberspace: Standard Setting Bodies,
ICANN, and Corporate Regulation
Casebook Pages 296-327
13. Problems of Speech
Regulation: Government Regulation of Sexually Explicit Speech
Casebook Pages 390-409 (First Amendment cases for background reading)
Casebook Pages 409-426 (Reno v. ACLU - class discussion)
14. Filtering
Technology and the First Amendment
Casebook Pages 440-466
15. Filtering
Technology and Intermediary Liability
Casebook Pages 466-491
16. Intermediary
Liability for Defamatory Conduct
Casebook Pages 491-511
17. Intermediary
Liability for Copyright and Trademark
Infringement
Casebook Pages 511-532
18. Intermediary
Control of Information
Casebook Pages 532-558
19. Rousso (Internet gambling) and Jaynes (spam)